Scaling Walls
by FractalTetris
Summary: After stumbling upon a lost Stakataka on a remote island and healing it, a trainer decides to set out on an adventure with her newfound partner, enduring hardships, and scaling those walls in a deepening friendship with this unique Pokémon. May contain trainer/stakataka shippy stuff. First attempt at any sort of Pokémon fanfic. Bear with me pls.
1. Of Walls And Friendship

I'm not quite sure where he came from, but he wasn't from Alola. He wasn't from this world, that's for sure. I had been wandering on a remote beach-one of the smaller Alolan islands-when I found him. Now I'd wandered this beach several times before, but I've never seen construction upon it. It was forbidden for humans to live on this island and construct anything beyond an overnight camping tent.

I was surprised to see an enormous wall sitting in the middle of the island, on the shore of a small lake. I was even more surprised when the monolithic stone structure stared back at me. "A Pokémon?" I said, picking up my guidebook and flipping through it. There wasn't a single page about this Pokémon. My guidebook was a fair bit out of date. Perhaps this is a newer Pokémon. If only I knew its name.

The large wall Pokémon continued to stare at me, flipping more stones to reveal more eyes. "Sta..." it said, in a deep, grumbly voice. "Sta... ka..." with curious intent. It seemed docile so I approached it cautiously. I noticed that one of its corners had a massive crack in it. "Oh no! You must be in pain!" I said, reaching for my bag. I sat down in the corner, and I heard the Pokémon wince as I placed my hand on the crack. "I'm not sure what kind of Pokémon you are, but I suppose you're a rock type." I said to it, pulling out a specially formulated rock type medicine I carried in my bag, just in case a wild Pokémon needed immediate assistance.

"Stak!" said the Pokémon, flipping a panel close to me, its eye looking pleased. The medicine was fairly similar to industrial caulking with special analgesic properties to soothe pain in rock, steel, and ground types. I squeezed some into the crack and started to rub it into the crack, gently massaging the area as I did so. Part of me felt odd massaging a wall, but part of me was happy knowing that it's a Pokémon. "Take it easy, now. I know it hurts and you probably want to... well, I'm not sure if you can walk, but you had to have been able to get here somehow. But you're going to need to wait for at least 6 hours before this medicinal caulk fully hardens, alright? I'll sit with you."

I let Pikachu and Togedemaru out of their Pokéballs. They both examined the massive wall Pokémon, sniffing around its perimeter, then proceeded to play in the lake. "Be careful, you two. I think this Pokémon is a rock type. It won't like water on it, especially when it's already hurt." Pikachu nodded and swam further into the lake. "Staka, Stakataka." said the Pokémon. "I'm not sure what you said, but I assume you're thanking me. You're welcome!" I said, putting my hand on its side, leaning against it. "I suppose your name is Stakataka. You don't mind me leaning on you, right?" I asked it.

Stakataka appeared to slightly shift along the lines of its layers, as though to create a sloped surface for me to lean against. I was awestruck. "You can shift around like that? Wow that's so cool!" It appeared to giggle and let me lean in further into it. "You seem sort of masculine to me. Is it ok if I call you a boy? I mean logically, walls don't have genders, but gender is pretty arbitrary anyway, right?" I asked Stakataka, placing a hand on a panel. The panel flipped and revealed a happy, approving eye. "Staka!"

I'm not sure when I fell asleep. All I knew is that when I woke up, the first thing I saw were countless blue eyes staring at me in a large room. I shrieked and my hand struck the wall on one of the eyes. "Sta... KAAAA!" shook the room, as every eye went sad and the one I hit started to cry. "Stakataka? This is you? I'm so sorry! I didn't realize! Please stop crying! Here, I have a Sitrus berry for you, but I'm not sure if you even have a mouth... oh! Here! I have some eye drops. They're meant for humans but..." I placed a few drops in the eye I accidentally slapped. It blinked a few times and then went happy. "Staka! Staka!"

The whole ground rumbled as Stakataka appeared to stand up, with the panels in the corners extending down to act as legs. He stepped over me and stood further away in the grass. Pikachu and Togedemaru were asleep next to an Exeggutor and woke up with the noise, running towards me. Pikachu pointed at the wet sand and grass, and the clouds breaking in the sky to reveal a sunset. "You're hollow inside and didn't want me to get wet! Is that what happened?" I asked him, looking at the injured location to see if the rain didn't affect it. It was just fine. "Staka! Staka!" he said, appearing to crouch like a giant wall puppy. "But you're a rock type! You should hate rain!" I exclaimed, placing a hand on him. His form shifted towards me and seemed to bunt against my face. "Oh! You like me!" I never thought I'd call a wall adorable, but fuck, this is the cutest wall I've ever seen. "You're a good wall, yes, you're a good wall!" I said, giving him a huge hug.

I looked at the setting sun. "Oh man, I have to go, Stakataka. I'm not sure where you're from, but I have to go before it gets too dark. Every single eye on Stakataka dilated and started to water as he started to whimper. "Stakataka, I'd... I'd offer to take you with me, but I don't have any more Pokéballs on me!" I said. "I can come back tomorrow with one!" Stakataka started to cry. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to leave him here but at the same time I didn't have everything I needed to camp out. Even if Stakataka did act as my shelter, I didn't have any sleeping bags or heat, nor did I have a fire type Pokémon with me.

I heard a rustling as every Exeggutor in the area simultaneously looked up at a yellow glow in the sky. "Could it be?" I said, as the yellow glow floated down towards the lake. "Ko... KOOOO!" it yelled. "Oh wow, it's Tapu Koko!" I exclaimed, as it floated towards me. It placed something on the ground, and then flew off. "Thank you, Tapu Koko!" I called to it, as it disappeared into the distance. What was it that the island guardian had bestowed upon me? I picked it up. It appeared to be a purple, blue, and yellow Pokéball of sorts. "Is this... is this for Stakataka? I've never seen this type of Pokéball before but..." I turned to Stakataka. "Do you want to be my p..." I didn't even finish my sentence before Stakataka pushed out a panel, striking the button on the Pokéball, and capturing itself. I held the Pokéball in my hands. "Wow, I just caught a Stakataka! I think, at least, that's what he's called!" I boarded my boat and proceeded to sail back to Melemele Island, into the sunset, wondering what adventures lay ahead of me with my new companion.


	2. A Timid Tower

I woke up to a roomful of eyes once again. "Stakataka! Who let you out of your Pokéball?" I said, tapping his sides gently. "Let me out! I have to pee." Stakataka shifted a part of his wall to release me. He appeared to be roughly 12 feet tall and just barely fit inside my room. Pikachu nudged Stakataka's Pokéball towards me. "Stakataka, you're far too big to fit inside my room! If you want to be out of your Pokéball, get back inside it so I can take you outside." I returned a grumpy wall back into his Pokéball, went outside, and let him out. My house was a bit far from town, facing the beach. Stakataka went and sat on the sand. "You wait here until I get properly dressed and then we can go for a walk, ok?" I told Pikachu and Togedemaru to wait with him while I went through my morning routine.

I was just about to pour myself some cereal when I heard Pikachu and Togedemaru yelling. I ran outside to see what the issue was. Stakataka appeared to be failing to hide himself under a small tree as a Yungoos appeared to hiss at him. The Yungoos appeared to be a baby, and Stakataka appeared to act like one. "Don't be scared, Stakataka!" I called to him. "It's just a baby Yungoos! It's too small to hurt you!" Stakataka went into full defensive wall mode and started to whimper. I sighed. "Togedemaru, can you use Spark on Yungoos? A small one, just to scare it off." Togedemaru looked at me quizzically, and crackled with electricity next to Yungoos. It got spooked and ran off into the distance.

"Stakataka, you big scaredy Skitty! Yungoos is gone, don't worry!" He flipped a panel on each side of him, looked around, and then sighed. "Sta... KA!" he said, pouncing on me, bunting my face again with a panel. "I'm going to need to carry some pain killers for myself if you keep tackling me like that!" I said, wiping a small amount of blood from a scratch. Stakataka noticed I was bleeding. His pupils dilated and he started to freak out. "Stak? STAKA! STAAAKAAAA!" His eyes turned red as he started to run in circles around the beach, crying. "Stakataka! Stop! It's just a small cut! Please! I'm ok! I've stopped bleeding already! Don't worry!" I said, running up to him. Stakataka's eyes returned to normal and he plopped down next to me, eyes still misty, staring at my cut. He very gently bunted my hand. "Staka..." he whimpered. "I'm ok. I'll take care of you. Don't you worry about me!" I said.

My stomach growled. "Oh! I didn't get to eat breakfast!" I said. I heard Pikachu and Togedemaru's stomachs growl too. "How about we go into town and get some malasadas? I can get you some really, really nice and tasty ones from Hau'oli City! Although I still don't know if you even have a mouth to eat..." I said. Stakataka flipped a panel with a much smaller eye to reveal that he did, indeed, have a very tiny mouth. I took out his Pokéball and was about to return him, but Stakataka appeared to not want to go back into the Pokéball. "I mean it's a bit of a walk, but I suppose we can walk. I'm not sure about Pikachu and Toged..." I said, looking around for them. I noticed that they were perched atop of Stakataka. "Pi-Pikachu!" said Pikachu, pointing towards town.

"I suppose we should go get food, then!" I grabbed my stuff and proceeded to walk to town. Stakataka appeared to walk over me. I was thankful, as the sun was fairly strong today. Every time a wild Pokémon came out of the bushes, Stakataka would crouch and cower, and I had to reassure him everything was OK. As time went on as we walked, he would stop cowering, but still flinch any time any Pokémon flew past him. Stakataka appeared to slightly limp on his bad leg, but didn't appear to be in much pain.

Hau'oli City came closer into sight and Stakataka appeared to take in the view. People stopped in their tracks to see a giant walking wall pass through town that would get startled if another Pokémon got too close to him. "You're too big for the malasada shop, Stakataka. Wait outside." I went inside and purchased four sweet honey malasadas. I gave one to Pikachu, one to Togedemaru, kept one for myself, and held one out for Stakataka. He flipped the panel where his mouth is, and started nibbling on the malasada. His pupils dilated. "Staka! STAKA! STAAAKA!" he exclaimed, and proceeded to gobble down the rest of it. "I knew you'd like it!" I said, giving him a pat. He plopped down next to a table and I sat next to him, stroking his sides while I ate mine. It sounded like he was purring, but his purrs were nothing like a Meowth purr. His sounded like two rocks gently rubbing against each other.

"Hey! You!" came a voice. "Lady! What the heck is that Pokémon?" I looked around to find out who was yelling at me. A young boy, roughly 11 years old, showed up from the inside the malasada shop. "This Pokémon is called Stakataka!" I told him. "It looks like a wall! Is that really a Pokémon? If I didn't just see it move I would've thought it's just a wall!" he said. I confirmed once more that Stakataka is a Pokémon. The boy had a grin on his face. "Well, if he's a Pokémon, then surely he can battle, right? I'm Joel. Let's battle!" he said, holding out a Pokéball. I gasped. "I just caught him yesterday. I don't even know what moves he has and he's sort of timid..." I said, putting my hands on Stakataka, who appeared to be getting tense.

"Lady, you have three Pokémon from what I can see! So do I, and I only received my very first Pokémon from Professor Kukui yesterday! Go Litten!" said Joel, releasing the incendiary feline onto the pavement. Stakataka cowered and hid all but one of his eyes. "I suppose I have no choice. Togedemaru, you're up. Use Spark!" Togedemaru rolled towards Litten and proceeded to zap it. Litten used Ember, but Togedemaru dodged it. Stakataka slowly backed off, terrified of the flying elements. "Togedemaru, use Rollout! And don't stop until Litten is down!" Litten was knocked to the ground within two strikes of Rollout.

"Litten is unable to battle!" came a voice. It seems that a pedestrian noticed that we had no referee and decided to act as one. "Thanks!" I told them. Joel nodded to them as well. "Go Pikipek!" he said. Stakataka cowered even further back. "Togedemaru, use Thunder Shock." I said. Pikipek was out in one hit. "Pikipek is unable to battle!" said the pedestrian. Joel looked surprised. "You should tend to Litten and Pikipek." I told him. "No! The battle isn't over yet! They can wait until then! Go Lycanroc!" he said, releasing the midnight form of Lycanroc. It scowled. "Use Rock Tomb!" yelled Joel. "Dodge it, Togedemaru!" I yelled. Togedemaru wasn't fast enough. Togedemaru struggled to get up before collapsing. "Togedemaru is unable to battle!" said the pedestrian. I picked up Togedemaru and sat her next to Stakataka. Stakataka looked at Togedemaru worryingly.

"Pikachu! Go!" I said. "Use Volt Tackle!" Pikachu charged towards Lycanroc surrounded by electricity, tackling Lycanroc. Lycanroc grabbed Pikachu and tossed him aside, seemigly unaffected by the Volt Tackle. "I may have only got Lycanroc yesterday, but he was my grandpappy's Lycanroc! He has lots of experience!" Pikachu got up and stared at Lycanroc in disbelief. "Use Iron Tail!" I told Pikachu. Lycanroc grabbed Pikachu and launched him to the side. "Use Rock Throw!" said Joel. Lycanroc haphazardly launched stones everywhere. "Lycanroc! I meant use it on Pikachu, not on your entire surroundings!" screamed Joel. Lycanroc mumbled an apology. Pikachu was knocked out. "Pikachu is unable to battle!" said the pedestrian. "Do you want to use your uh... wall, or are you..." said Joel, trailing off as he noticed I got struck with a piece of the Rock Throw. "Give me a moment." I said, picking out the stone. I started to bleed a little.

Stakataka took notice of a small drop of blood trailing from my palm. "Sta? Staka... STAKA... STAAAAKAAA!" his eyes turned red as he jumped to face Lycanroc. "Stakataka! Calm down! I'm ok! Please!" Stakataka seemed to ignore me and proceeded to use what I think was Rock Slide. "Stakataka! Listen to me!" I yelled. Rock Slide appeared to do damage to Lycanroc. "Wait, do you happen to know Earthquake? Wait no the malas..." I said. Apparently he did know Earthquake. He slammed his forelegs down in front of Lycanroc. Everything around us shook and rattled, and the malasada shop windows cracked. Lycanroc lay defeated, and Stakataka looked over it angrily, before plopping back down next to me, eyes back to normal, looking at my cut worriedly. "Stakataka! You were great! I didn't know you had that sort of power in you!" He bunted himself gently against my hand.

"Lycanroc is unable to battle! This lady and her Pokémon are the winners!" said the pedestrian. "There's a Pokémon Center a few blocks down if you need to use it!" they said, before walking off. "Wow, lady! Your wall is so powerful! And here I thought he was just a scaredy Skitty! I'm off to the Pokémon center, if you want to come with me." said Joel. "His name is Stakataka, not wall. And my name is Pierre Mauer, not lady." I told him. "What kind of name is Pierre for a girl?" he said. "I'm not as ladylike as you'd think." I told him. "Meet you at the Pokémon center in 10 minutes!" I said, waving to him.

I walked back into the malasada shop to apologize about the windows. "Don't worry, we're insured! In fact, thanks to you, we now qualify for extra strength Tauros-proof glass! So strong that not even a raging Tauros using Quick Attack could damage it!" said the shop owner. "That was quite an intense battle! In fact, have another malasada for your wall boy. On the house!" I thanked them. "His name is Stakataka and thanks!" I walked up to Stakataka and fed him the malasada. "Let's go to the Pokémon Center, ok?" he bunted my hand again and carried Pikachu and Togedemaru towards the Pokémon Center.


	3. Journeys Know No Time

"Your Pikachu and Togedemaru are in tip top shape!" said Nurse Joy. "Joel's Pokémon are also good to go! But I want to take a closer look at your wall... Stakataka, as you call it. I've never seen this Pokémon before! It appears that he has an injured foot. You did a good job patching it up. I just want to make sure he gets a proper fitness test!" I nodded and sat down next to Joel, who was feeding his Pokémon some Pokébeans. "Hey, Pikachu and Togedemaru can have some too!" he said, handing some to them and giving them pats on their heads.

"You know, after seeing Stakataka in battle, I asked my grandpappy if he's ever seen a Stakataka!" he said, showing me a photo he had snapped mid-battle with Stakataka. "Grandpappy mentioned that he does remember that around 30 years ago, there was one rumored sighting of a wall-like Pokémon with countless eyes spotted on a construction site. But only a handful of people have claimed to have seen it, and not much was known about it at the time." I was intrigued. If there was someone who knew anything, just anything at all about Stakataka, I wanted to talk to them. "Do you think I could talk to him about Stakataka? I want to know more." I asked Joel. "Well I can ask him! I'm not sure if he knows anything about Stakataka, but he sure knows a lot of people around Alola! I'm sure he can get you in contact with somebody who would know more!" he said, proceeding to send a text.

"Let me know when he replies!" I told him. "Look after Pikachu and Togedemaru, please. I want to go check on Stakataka." He nodded and I walked to Nurse Joy and asked her to take me to Stakataka. "Your Stakataka appears to have a terrible injury in its foot. Do you know how it happened, by any chance?" she said. I shook my head. "No, that's how I found him. I don't think using Earthquake helped him at all. I didn't think he was going to use his injured foot when using it." I touched him. "I'm sorry, I didn't think about your foot when I told you to use Earthquake." He closed his eyes and bunted my hand. "Sta... ka.." he purred, relaxing into my hand. "It seems like he really likes you. I'm not sure where he is from, but he seems to be in perfect health aside from the foot injury. I'd advise you to refrain from using Earthquake as much as possible." she said, handing me a CD. "Here's a TM for Flash Cannon. It's not as strong as Earthquake, but it won't require him hurting his feet." I thanked her and turned to Stakataka. "Do you want to learn Flash Cannon? This CD will help you learn it! But you have to promise that you don't use Earthquake anymore." Stakataka made a sound of agreement.

"Pierre, may I ask you where you got Stakataka's Pokéball? They certainly don't carry that kind in any of the Pokémon Center marts that I know of. Perhaps it's from a different region?" she asked, holding out the oddly colored Pokéball. "Well, it's not from Kalos, that much I know. Unless it's something new they made after I moved to Alola. You know, it was the oddest thing how I got this Pokéball. Tapu Koko gave it to me!" I went on to explain how I met Stakataka and Tapu Koko. Nurse Joy was in shock. "Tapu Koko gave it to you? I've heard about the island guardians very, very rarely giving Trial Goers items to help them with their journey. But you're not a Trial Goer, I think. You do not have a Z-Ring. You're a standard trainer. The island guardians seldom give unique items to a non Trial Goer!" she said, seemingly puzzled.

"I'm hardly a trainer. I was offered the opportunity, but I preferred staying at home and making Pokémon plush dolls and homemade remedies for different Pokémon." I said, pulling out the caulk I used to fix Stakataka's foot. "This particular medicine can only be used on Pokémon with inorganic bodies, such as those made of stone or steel. It's made of ground stone, industrial caulking, Sitrus berries, and potions. Feel free to use the recipe for any other Pokémon who could use it." Nurse Joy thanked me. "But..." I said, "Sometimes I wonder if I made the incorrect decision. Not about making medicine or plushes. I wish I had gone on my adventure when I still could."

Nurse Joy giggled. "What do you mean still could? You still can! You're never too old to go on an adventure. You're, what, 21 years old, right? I know of a man who did his trials when he was 64 years old!" She pointed towards Joel. "Joel just started his adventure yesterday. He's headed to Professor Kukui's lab to get his Pokédex today. Why don't you join him and talk to Professor Kukui about starting your adventure? I'm sure Stakataka would be a great partner for you to go on an adventure with. Just be mindful of his foot. He won't have an issue walking or climbing, but be sure you take care of him in battle."

I thanked Nurse Joy and took Stakataka out to the waiting room. He plopped down next to Lycanroc, who proceeded to lick him. "My grandpappy says that he doesn't know much about Stakataka, but he knows someone who would know about him. Professor Burnet, who is Professor Kukui's wife. I'm actually headed to Kukui's lab right now, if you want to tag along!" he said, feeding Stakataka a Pokébean. "I was just about to ask you about that." I told him. "I know I'm 21, but I want to do my trials." Joel smiled. "You're never too old to go on an adventure, Pierre. We can go on an adventure together! Besides I'm sure you know how to cook. I certainly don't. But I'm great at foraging so I can assist you with that!" he said with a smile. I nodded. "Your foraging can help me find odd ingredients for food as well as medicine!"

We went outside and started to walk towards Kukui's lab. "Kukui says that the latest Rotom Dex has been made. There are only so many Rotom Dexes because there are only so many Rotom compatible with the Rotom Dex. If Burnet is there, she can also help you understand Stakataka, maybe?" I nodded. "Let's go on this adventure!" he exclaimed, running ahead.


End file.
